Month: July 2015

I’m such a dope. I am so certain about what I believe and I have good, rational reasons for my beliefs but when I meet someone who I could love I want to change those beliefs. I want to be wrong about what I know. I want the world to tell me that I’m wrong and they are right.

Like this:

So in Review, host Forrest MacNeil reviews various life experiences suggested by his viewers. This included things in season one like eating fifteen pancakes, getting divorced, and eating thirty pancakes. MacNeil’s commitment is total.

My first year in college was the first time I met peers who were as big or bigger Springsteen fans as I was. It was liberating and a bit intimidating. I had never been to a Springsteen concert. I didn’t own any bootlegs. I knew very little about Springsteen outside of his music. I remember disagreeing with one guy about the character of Terry in the song “Backstreets”.

I read something recently that said that people want to be happy and generally go about it wrong. There is plenty of useful information in there for a general malcontent like me. One of the thing’s which is mentioned is that people sometime think that they will be happy if everything is perfect. Of course it’s impossible or things to be perfect.

It’s always tricky to figure out where personal responsibility ends. In a perfect world, we would all be solely responsible for our actions. In that same perfect world, we would all understand the consequences of our actions beforehand. I think of this when it comes to unwanted pregnancies in places that give little or no sex education. And I think of this in terms of financial problems for people with limited financial education.

Forty-seven years ago today, my parents were married. They are sill married. It’s an inspiring example, that two people who have had their ups and downs have figured out a way to stay together. It’s an example that is imprinted on my brain, a standard that I am always conscious of, a fact that I have built a belief around.

One thing that is clear from this project is that there are themes and ideas that Springsteen returns to over and over again. I’m sure that is part of what resonates for me with Springsteen, that some of the ideas that are important to him are also important to me. And sometimes we see that Springsteen returns to almost an exact same lyric that he used before.

All I want is enough. The problem is that enough isn’t something that is easy to quantify. Enough isn’t a number. Enough isn’t a possession or a bunch of possessions. Enough is a state of mind. Enough is an idea. I want enough.

Whenever I hear the lyric below, I am reminded of my first kiss. I was in high school, junior year, and I finally had my first girlfriend. I don’t remember how many dates we’d had but I know I didn’t kiss her on our first date. This was back in the day in which girls didn’t necessarily kiss boys on the first date, not even a quick kiss on the doorstep before they went inside. (Does this still happen?)

Does it take more courage to continue to live or to end your life? I’ve never seriously considered ending my life but it’s never been because of some extra reservoir of courage that I have that others are lacking. I think part of it is because my life in general is not so bad. There are plenty of others who have it much worse. And I also have the belief life will get better at some point. I guess that’s hope.